All Car Servicing

All Car Servicing

Hi I would like to introduce myself. Working in the Garage and tyre and all Car Servicing business now for 40 years. So. worked for a couple of national tyre companies before starting my first business. Of course, I now own a company here in the UK called Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre. Blogging about anything to do with Car Servicing and their related products. Naturally, that will help my business. We are members of Point-S and MotorCodes and are also a Unipart Car Care Centre.

Unipart Car Care Centres (UCCC) link with Autobutler

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Unipart Car Care Centres link with Autobutler

Over the past 40 years I have joined many subsidiary organizations to try to improve the standards for my customers and also if the truth is known, to improve my profit margins. Most of the schemes in the early days were from tyre manufacturers wanting us to sell their products, in exchange for point of sales materials and customer give always.

Unipart Car Care Centres and auto butler

Unipart Car Care Centres and auto butler

Tyre manufacturers have always accepted the fact that tyre retailers can basically sell any make that they want. In other words when we were Goodyear dealers, then we would sell Goodyear tyres. It may appear to be pretty obvious to someone out of the tyre trade, but there are hundreds of tyre makes and types on the market and it would be easier to sell “any old” brand of tyres that are in stock, so we have to concentrate our efforts on the one or two makes that we can get the best deal on, either in price terms or merchandising, and preferably both.

As we all started to copy the Kwik-Fit model and diversify from tyres alone, we started to get offers from other parts of the motor-trade. Exhaust manufacturers were the first to spot the stocking potential of having their products on our shelves. This also appealed to us, because what could be better and easier than having the item you are selling on the shelf.

One of the first companies to offer us this service was the excellent Quinton-Hazel (QH) group. This company was fronted by their salesman a guy called Bob Dolby. This guy was and still

Unipart Car Care Centres

Massive Quinton-Hazel exhaust stock

is one of the best company rep that I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with, he was a 100% professional and therefore we became a QH exhaust fitting centre. This move was one of the best business deals I had ever done; we took some risks by buying the exhaust systems in bulk containers and stored them in an empty mushroom shed that belonged to a friend.

As with all good things the QH organization started to fall apart for some reason and we then became a Bosal Car Exhausts centre. At this time though cars were becoming more sophisticated and the amount of exhaust systems that we had to keep I became more expansive and took up more space, so we decided to revert back to the old system of buying the exhausts from distributors as we needed them whilst the customer waited in the reception. Other offers came from various trade suppliers, including great deals from the battery companies.

Coming back to more recent times, one of the more lucrative deals that I pulled off was with Total oils. I remember visiting a trade show at the NEC and visiting the Total oil stand. The deal was that if we bought and used Total oils on the cars that we serviced, then they would supply us with automatic oil pumps and a waste oil system. The oil was to be supplied at “so much” a litre and was top weighted so that all we were doing was paying them back for the equipment, but it  was equipment that I would have considered buying without the deal.

Joined Unipart Car Care Centres

unipart car care centres

sign of a good garage

This is just an example of what other companies are willing to offer on a partnership basis, in the motor trade. Bringing things up to date, there are many such schemes on offer in recent years, things like the “Good garage Scheme” have attracted many garages, but in my opinion the best ones have been the Unipart Car Care Centres  (UCCC) partnership and for the tyres side of my business the excellent Point-S independent tyre retailer scheme. Both these companies give a small garage or tyre depots the chance to compete with national competition with the likes of Kwik-Fit or Halfords.

Point-S offer customers throughout the UK to be able to buy online and have their tyres or servicing carried out in their local town, in my case this would be Halifax. Unipart Car Care Centres also offer a nationwide guarantee scheme for their customers in case of a breakdown due to faulty parts or work carried out by the participating garage. Plus we are able to use the excellent Unipart Car Parts, which are up to manufacturer’s standards and therefore covered by European legislation.

Our latest venture is coming from a new idea put to us through Unipart Automotive and is an online car repair and service portal called Autobutler.co.uk and is the first of its kind in Europe. It enables the customer to buy a service or get a quote for a mechanical job or an MOT test online. Say a customer in the Halifax area wants a service ding on their car then we will put in a quote for the job doing, if the price is right then the job will be booked in and the work carried out at the price negotiated. In my opinion this system will generate new work for us and will appeal to the customer who likes to order things online (like my wife) and is not tied or does not have a favored garage. This is just another added bonus to be a member of the Unipart Car Parts Online organization.

A new concept in servicing and repair, previously seen in Germany, Sweden and Denmark, is launching in the UK together with Unipart Car Care Centres.

Unipart car care centres sign

unipart car care sign

Auto Butler Prices gives car workshops and garages the chance to quote on work requests that are searched online by local motorists visiting the auto-butler.co.uk website. When a car driver logs on and fills in a detailed job request, registered garages within an area selected by the customer are alerted to the opportunity to quote via email, text message and a call from their own personal ‘butler’, inviting them to make an offer for the work.

Pellon Tyre and Autocentre offer car and van servicing and repairs to all makes of vehicles. We are members of Unipart Car Care centres and give a Nationwide guarantee for all our work and parts. We also sell tyres online from our website www.pellonautocentre.com by using the tyre selector and choosing your tyre size. We offer courtesy cars to local motorists who need to go to work and leave their car with us for work doing. We are also an official MOT testing station and are members of Motorcodes, who carry out checks for high standard of equipment and workmanship. 

Winter Car Servicing

Unipart Car Care Centre Halifax West Yorkshire

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Unipart Car Care Centre Halifax

Unipart Car Care Centre Halifax

This year at Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre will be our 30th year in business. To celebrate we are holding a huge party for our customers and suppliers. Consequently, who have supported us over the past years. In that time we have tried any many different trade associations to better us and the customer experience, by offering different things that would improve their experience when visiting our garage for tyres servicing or indeed general repairs.

The two organisations that we are currently associated with are the best that I have had the pleasure to deal with.

5 years of care

We have been a Unipart UCCC now for five years and have benefited our customers with the service that they offer. The Unipart Car Care Centre garage network now extends to over 200 independent garages that operate throughout the British Isles. They consist of a blend of normal type garages, fast fit centres and other motoring organizations and are the largest network in the country (UK).

Because we are all independent garages we probably carry out car servicing in slightly different ways, but we all work in the same ethical way offering our customers a top quality service with genuine monetary savings, that we must adhere to as part of our Unipart Car Care Centre membership.

We use top quality service schedules price list that are available online.

The price list says 2012, but we are sticking to these prices for the near future. On some car models we will use the Autodata car servicing manual to give us the exact requirements for the customers car’s needs. Just to mention it , we do have the computer equipment to correct and re-set any of the cars service lights when the service is completed.

Original Equipment Quality Parts.

Another bonus for our customers is that we use 90% of Unipart sourced parts to use on our customers cars. This ensures that we fit real quality parts when we carry out a service or repairs to our customers cars .We have to ensure the best parts because all our customers are covered by a Unipart Car Parts 12 months parts a labor guarantee, which is applicable all over the mainland UK.

So if you are going on holiday. Say to Brighton from Halifax and you had a problem with some work that we carried out. Then you could take the car to the nearest Unipart Car Care Centre depot and the problem would be sorted out for you to carry on with your holiday, a great bonus for all the UCCC Members customers. All Unipart Car Care Centres are signed up to the Motor Industry Code of Practice now know as Trading Standards.

The second great organization that I have joined has been Point-S !

Operating an online tyre pricing system to compete with the other online tyre retailers. However, the difference is that the pricing system is to help us local businesses. So, compete with the huge national tyre retailers such as Kwikfit . When you buy a tyre through Point-S tyre buying system. So then the sale comes to us at local level. We are then contacted by the customer who arranges a date for the tyres to be fitted. This is a great system for a popular local tyre centre to compete with the big companies. Confidently, it also means that our customers have a choice from where they can buy from. Of course, knowing that if they have a problem in the future. Then they can still rely on our great service and guarantee system.

Both these partners to our business have helped us compete in this ever changing computer internet driven world many thanks.

Eric Roberts

Hi I would like to introduce myself. Working in the Garage and tyre and Battery business now for 40 years. So. Working for a couple of national tyre companies before starting my first business. Of course, I now own a company here in the UK called Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre. Blogging about anything to do with cars and their related products. Naturally, that will help my business. We are members of Point-S and Trading Standards and are also a Unipart Car Care Centre.

Pollen Filter (Cabin Filter) or Not? Missed out by many garages on services?

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Pollen Filter or Not?

Having a pollen filter in your car is a relatively new concept. Firstly, thy were first fitted in cars in Europe in the 1980’s. Of course, the USA already had pollen filters . However,different European countries had different standards. So in their implications.

The original air pollution work which covered different pollutants. Including, aerosol sprays ! Was carried out by a German institute the German laboratory, Fraunhofer… The Institute of Toxicology and Aerosol Research … http://www.item.fraunhofer.de/en.html

pollen filter

Dirty pollen filter after changing

This set the standards for the filtering of pollutants. Including the filtering of pollen and other polluting substances that were pulled into the car. Of course, through the air intakes and required to be filtered out.

The pollen filter is changed when you are having your car serviced

Of course, if you are a pollen sufferer in the Pollen Season (and there are millions out there who are?). Then it would be advisable to have the Air Filters and pollen filters changed. Importantly, at the end of winter or the beginning of spring. This is certainly the worse time for the pollen to start affecting the poor sufferers.

The thing I have also noticed is that pollen can start to affect people at any stage of their lives. So it would be wise to insist that your local independent garage or Unipart Car Care Centre (UCCC) . Importantly, should change the pollen filter at least once a year and preferably at the beginning of spring. Making sure the air entering your car will be as pollen free as possible. Other important filters not to ignore are the Oil and Fuel Filters.

Please don’t forget that this can also affect your passengers. So make sure that the pollen cabin filters are changed. So that they will remove all the allergens. From the imported and contaminated air from outside and act as  Air Purifiers.

Pollen is not the only thing that gets trapped in your pollen filter?

When we remove the old pollen filter, we are amazed at the dirt and particles that the filter picks up, in just 12 months. The cabin pollen filter traps many different things that travel into the car from the exterior via the air conditioning and heating and ventilation system and these can include things like other cars exhaust fumes, bacteria general dust caused by insects and breaking up leaves that enter the front of your car and break up into tiny particles and finally will be trapped in your cars.

If the driver does not change the pollen filter at regular intervals, like I say at least once a year in springtime, then it is possible that air in the car will begin to smell foul and will cause your passengers to inhale fumes and air particles as you drive them along, possibly making them feel ill.

The blocked filter can also restrict the airflow into the cars heating and cooling system often causing problems and needing the help of your garage to spot the problem, a cost that could have been avoided had you changed the pollen filter.

Why Change Pollen Filter

Most filters can be found in easy to access areas through access panels under the cars bonnet (hood), but we operate the Autodata manual that will tell us the exact location of these filters. We also fit an exact filter to the one removed and we use Unipart filters of the same quality as the car manufacturers have used. Another small point is that although your filters should change in spring time a more general guide is to have them change at 12 to 15ooo mile intervals.

Many motorists do not  appreciate the benefits to changing these pollen filters and are not aware of the health benefits of using them, but as I wrote earlier, these things are all scientifically studied are the findings have helped develop the product that we know as the cabin or pollen filter.  

Eric Roberts

Hi I would like to introduce myself. Working in the Garage and tyre and Battery business now for 40 years. So. Working for a couple of national tyre companies before starting my first business. Of course, I now own a company here in the UK called Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre. Blogging about anything to do with cars and their related products. Naturally, that will help my business. We are members of Point-S and Trading Standards and are also a Unipart Car Care Centre.

Car Service Tips For the First Time Drivers

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car service advice for the young drivers

Having a Car service has always been seen as a big expense to the average motorist and certainly is for the young first time motorists. Most cars will need an annual major service, and in my

Car Service

Mechanic in Halifax servicing a Range Rover

opinion for the driver on average mileage should have one or even two smaller engine services.

This (the smaller engine service) usually means the oil and filter changed and the rest of the cars fluid levels topped up. It is also a great idea (if you can afford) for cars over three years old told to have the main service carried out at the same time as the cars MOT test. Your garage will probably advice you to have the MOT test carried out before the service, this is always best practice and is recommended by the Ministry of Transport as the correct procedure to follow.

 It also gives you control of your spending budget, indeed what you should do is instruct the Car Garage to inform you of any failures that the test may throw up. You must also ask your garage to give you an estimate of the cost of repairs to your car to get it through the test.

Many customers of garages do this because if the cost of your repairs are high, you may not be able to afford to have the car serviced, indeed you can then cancel the service for a later date, when you can afford to have the service carried. The best practice though is to have the test and the car service carried out in the same day. This will ensure that your car will be in the best condition for your summer holidays or the possible harsh winter ahead.

Most good garages and auto centres carry out a car service  to a high standard.

They will carry out menu services according to the manufactures advice and indeed many garages and auto centres car serviceuse a service menu specific to your car by typing your registration number in to an automotive computer such as “Autodata”, complete with software that will print out the exact Car service menu for your make and model of your car. This also tells the mechanic the precise type of oils to use; this is very important due the diverse types of oil now used in modern car engines. Another advantage of using this technology is that the computers will advise you on the time or mileage it takes before your other parts of your Car service may need changing such as the cam belt. This information should come in the form of advice written as an advisory on your service sheet.

The advisory report that you are given should not be overlooked, but either acted up on at the time or looked at on a later date. Most good garages will give you a the repair costs  at the time of your test or service and this price should be good for about a month after it has been given, however if you go back at a later date it is always advisable to double check the price before you have the work carried out and it is also worth considering that the part that was advised upon may have got worse and indeed spread to yet another part, giving rise to the advice that work should be carried out as soon as spotted and advised by the mechanic in the first instance at the time of the test or service, if your finances do not stretch to having  the work carried out, please get the work done as soon as you can afford it may endanger yours and other people’s lives. 

Another good piece of advice is that if you are new to an area and you do not know were to have your car serviced it look for a garage carrying the “Unipart Car Care Code Of Practice” emblem this will ensure that you will get fair pricing and that the garage has been checked for good practice and procedures by the RAC of Great Britain, any quality control procedures by the service centre should give you confidence enough that if any problems occur, they will be dealt with in a fair and proper manner. In general any garage you carries out MOT testing, are usually up to a good standard and are also regulated and controlled by the British Government ministry department known as VOSA.

The usual way to find a good garage is by word of mouth by friends or relations. Other methods are yellow pages or google on the internet. Many garages are in larger groups an example of this would be Unipart centres, you will find this type of centre will offer you the assurances that you will be looking for as regarding workmanship and price fairness.

To summarize most garages and services are good at what they do, most are aided now by sophisticated technology, it is important (and indeed one of our policies) that you get a company that offers you pricing before the job is done and that you also give the garage you phone number so that you can be contacted if any extra work is required or indeed just to tell you that your car is ready. Also try to go to a garage that is regulated by a trade organization, and then if there is a dispute your problem can go into arbitration and hopefully resolved.

car service

servicing a BMW mini at Halifax

In our own case here at Pellon Auto-centre, we have not had a single case to answer for, and any disputes are usually handled in an amicable way

Also people do vote with their feet and a busy garage is usually a good garage, How Much for Car Service ,happy motoring.  

Eric Roberts

Hi I would like to introduce myself. I have worked in the Garage and tyre and Battery business now for 40 years. I have worked for a couple for national tyre companies in my younger days, before starting my first business. I now own a garage and MOT testing centre, here in the UK called Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre, and I am a keen blogger about anything to do with cars and their related products that will help my business. We are members of Point-S and Motor-Codes and are also a Unipart Car Care Centre and of course Tyre-safe.

Electric cars-Are Car dealers Really Scared Of Tesla Disrupting Car Servicing-

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Electric cars,car servicing

Electric cars-Dealers Are Really Scared Of Tesla Disrupting The Servicing Experience
Jalopnik
Service departments are important for car dealers and Auto Centres in general?

 

eric roberts‘s insight:

When Electric cars arrive will car servicing be a thing of the past

Well according to this article, it would be Electric cars from Tesla that get in their way. I have been having this discussion on LinkedIn forums for ages now, and most industry professionals, think the same way as me and that the future car mix will be the old and new Electric cars technology cars mixed.

America has now found themselves with oil that will last them many more years ahead, from the new technology  of “fracking“.

This is where crude oils are forced out from between layers of shale rock that could not be previously  got at, using conventional mining methods.

This new oil find will in my opinion secure the use of gasoline(petrol) driven vehicles, all be it with much more efficient engines and probably diesel. Diesel can also be made from

car servicing

If it is up to Tesla car servicing would be a thing of the past

organic plant materials, known as Bio fuels. which are already in use in today’s diesel engined cars. We can also recycle old fuels including old oil to purify and use in these engines.

EV and electric cars are being developed at a very fast pace along with Hydrogen cell cars and no doubt there will be many more new inventions coming out of the Worlds universities as governments plough billions of dollars into new research and development.

All these different mixes of car technology will in the future mean a very diverse mix of cars on the roads of the World.

Car servicing will still be a thing of the future

I also think that the “right to repair bill” that is law in America and also very similar to the European Union laws that are designed to protect the replacement car servicing and

parts companies from new technologies that are created by the car manufacturing companies such as Tesla Electric cars in America and say BMW in Europe.

Eric Roberts

Hi I would like to introduce myself. I have worked in the Garage and tyre and Battery business now for 40 years. I have worked for a couple for national tyre companies in my younger days, before starting my first business. I now own a garage and MOT testing centre, here in the UK called Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre, and I am a keen blogger about anything to do with cars and their related products that will help my business. We are members of Point-S and Motor-Codes and are also a Unipart Car Care Centre and of course Tyre-safe.

See on jalopnik.com

Brake Problems

Car Brakes-Entering the FRICTION ZONE — Older vehicle PARC sees increase in Car brakes sales

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Entering the FRICTION ZONE — Aging vehicle parc ripe for car brakes sales Car Brakes-Entering the FRICTION ZONE

Tire Business

“Where before when a vehicle reached 10 years or 11 years, consumers were thinking of selling it, now they’re thinking of, ‘How can I keep my car going?

 

Eric Roberts‘s insight:

This is a very in depth articles about car brakes

Un-reasonably,  car brakes are very often taken for granted. So, in other words car owners will just pull into your garage and leave their car. Because there is a banging or rattling noise coming from the front of the car.

This is usually a good indication that the car brakes have failed,or are failing ! But brake jobs do follow a pattern.

The spring time is usually the time for our customers car brakes to start going wrong . So,and needing repairing. Of course, in my opinion I think that it is because that drivers use their car brakes. Of course, much more in the winter months and therefore the brake pads and discs .

car brakes

A nice new set of brake discs fitted

 

Drivers almost always wait until the last minute to have them repaired and consequently cause more damage to the brakes.

 

For example a simple job like a set of brake pads replacing may turn out to be more complicated and end up the car needing new discs, or a seized up brake caliper.

This will result in a larger garage invoice for the customer. The secret is to get a free brake check at your local garage. most garages here in the UK will give a car a free brake check and give the customer a quote for the required work. We are members of the Unipart Car Care Centres who also offer a nationwide guarantee throughout the UK and a free brake check on all makes and models of cars.

All this culminates as a good time of year for doing brake work, especially the many older cars that our customers are now hanging on to longer and having them repaired instead of replaced.

Eric Roberts

Hi I would like to introduce myself. Working in the Garage and tyre and Battery business now for 40 years. So. Working for a couple of national tyre companies before starting my first business. Of course, I now own a company here in the UK called Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre. Blogging about anything to do with cars and their related products. Naturally, that will help my business. We are members of Point-S and Trading Standards and are also a Unipart Car Care Centre.

See on www.tirebusiness.com

pirelli tyres

BMW MINI TYRES- 3 Millionth Engine built in the UK.

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BMW MINI TYRES

BMW MINI TYRES;Three million BMW Mini engines built in Hams Hall Birmingham UK

 Of course, the success story for the BMW Mini just goes on and on. Hence, you have only to look on our roads.Thus, to see how many of these excellent cars are on our roads. Consequently, the factory

BMW MINI TYRES

BMW MINI TYRES;BMW Mini in for a brake service

where the BMW Mini is made. Is the first plant to be built outside of Germany. Of course, and is a compliment to all the people in Birmingham. Hence, with its great tradition of building good quality cars.Naturally, by a good quality workforce.

The factory that builds the BMW Mini is about 800 strong. Of course, and is expected to increase in size in the near future.

Last year (2011) . The British factory produced around 1.3 million new cars. This is expected to rise in 2012. This is a fantastic result. Therefore, it is anticipated that the UK car market. Thanks to the BMW Mini Coupe, will be a net exporter of cars for the first time since 1976 a great achievement for the British car market and their workers.

We at Pellon Autocentre love servicing and working on the new BMW Mini Countryman. They are a pleasure to work on and they have become a large part of our car servicing daily life. We are also a part of Unipart Car Care Centres (UCCC) and can offer the best parts service and warranty to all the Mini owners.

An excellent article about the BMW Mini can be seen by clicking the link bellow.

BMW MINI TYRES

BMW MINI TYRES;bmw mini at a track day

http://servicingstopbmw.co.uk/bmw-models/bmw-bulids-3-millionth-engine-in-the-uk/

Hi I would like to introduce myself. Working in the Garage and tyre and Battery business now for 40 years. So. Working for a couple of national tyre companies before starting my first business. Of course, I now own a company here in the UK called Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre. Blogging about anything to do with cars and their related products. Naturally, that will help my business. We are members of Point-S and Trading Standards and are also a Unipart Car Care Centre.

 

 

 

Neglect car servicing

Spring Service-It’s Time To Start Preparing Your Car- AOL Autos

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Spring Service

It’s Time To Start Preparing Your Car For Spring service

AOL Autos

Proper wheel alignment allows your car to handle properly. It also means that your tyres won’t wear out prematurely.

 

Eric Roberts’ insight:

Spring Service

This year will be no better time to have your car or SUV serviced. The reason why is that here in the South West of England, we have experienced the wettest winter for many years.

The cars have been wading in floods all across the South and especially in the Somerset Wetland’s, an area of England that is bellow sea levels and has been heavily flooded for most of the winter.

In my opinion, it is important now that the flooding has receded, to take you car into a local Car Service centre and have a Spring Service and the Car Brakes checked over.

The most vulnerable parts to suffer from water damage are your cars brakes. Most modern engines are now sealed units and do not have spark plugs and electric coils anymore,

Not just a Spring Service any service will benefit your car

spring service

Catalytic Converters can easily be damaged by flood water

Significantly, though the water can enter your exhaust pipes. Thus causing damage to the catalytic converter. Consequently, this may not be detected straight away! But you may end up with your cars engine management light coming on at a later stage. Irritatingly,the water damage shows up in your cars engine management system. Including your particulate filter.

Most things will be picked up when you Spring Service your car, but this is a good time have a spring service as the weather start to improve, as I say especially the cars braking system.

Many good Auto-centres now offer a free  brake check here in the UK and if you do not have a garage then you could do no worse that looks up your nearest Unipart Auto-centre, where you know that you will be treated fairly with honest pricing and their work is covered by a nationwide guarantee.

Eric Roberts

Hi I would like to introduce myself. Working in the Garage and tyre and Battery business now for 40 years. So. Working for a couple of national tyre companies before starting my first business. Of course, I now own a company here in the UK called Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre. Blogging about anything to do with cars and their related products. Naturally, that will help my business. We are members of Point-S and Trading Standards and are also a Unipart Car Care Centre.

See on autos.aol.com

Car brake Noises-Noisy brakes scare drivers- What could be the many Causes of Noisy brakes ?

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Car brake Noises

Car brake Noises and Possible Causes

Most off our customers who have their car serviced at regular intervals. Can sleep at night because they know that brake problems will be at a minimal. So, compared to the car owners who go from year to year. Without a thought to the condition of their cars. Especially the brakes and tyres. Luckily we have a system that picks up these cars at yearly intervals here in the UK called the MOT test.

This is when the faults and worn out car parts are picked up including the brakes. Including, all the other important parts of the car that need to be kept in tip-top condition for the sake of road safety.

Even so cars brakes do go faulty even in between servicing. Car brake Noises and  problems can occur at any time. Winter time is one time that brake problems can happen. The main cause in my opinion is the salt that we spread on our roads to melt the snow and ice can also cause damage to brake pipes cause and the brake calipers to seize up.

Car brake Noises

New BMW brake discs fitted

When brake calipers are seized up, this means that the pads are constantly put under pressure onto the discs and usually wear very quickly at one side. When cars brakes are regularly serviced we apply special grease onto the calipers to help them stay free from road debris and salt and keep them from setting solid and wearing out the brake pads and making loud Car brake Noises .

Car Brake squeaking noises

This is a similar thing that happens to older cars that are fitted with brake shoes at the rear. The parts that expand and contract the shoes seize up with shoes constantly sticking on causing rapid wear to occur. Another result of not having your car serviced and brakes checked is the build-up of dust and debris in the brake disc area, this is another possible cause of  Car brake Noises.

We have all seen the horrible black dust the builds up inside your wheels. So, making your alloy wheels look a mess. Of course, these would have been cleaned in a service. Spraying the alloy wheels with a special chemical to keep them in top condition.

This noise can happen whether the brakes are being applied or not. The reason is in my earlier text and is more than often a brake caliper that has stuck on because it has seized up due to not been serviced or after the winter, the latter being the most common cause. The pads or a pad will be stuck against the caliper and due to the heat build-up with friction the brake pads take on a shiny coating on the surface, causing them to give off a high pitch squeaking noise.

 This hard coating also causes the brake pads to become less effective, probably reducing their braking power by 30%. If you hear this noise then you should have your brakes looked at as soon as possible, as brake failure could be imminent.

The most common car braking noises is brake grinding disc.

This is the most common problem that we have in our garage in Halifax UK. Customers come running into the reception. Panicking about this dreadful grinding noise. Thus, coming from the front of the car? Many of our customers think that it is the exhaust pipe that has broken. Dragging along in the road. Thus making this horrific grinding sound. This mainly happens when the brakes are applied.

But in bad cases can be a constant noise. The grinding is due to the fact that the lining of the Ferodo Brake Pads  that stop the car have worn out down to the metal part and are grinding against the metal brake discs.

Once again this is due to lack of maintenance. But can also be between services. On rare occasions we have known a small pebble or stone being trapped in the disc. So, making a similar noise. Generally though it is the metal on metal sound. Caused by worn out brake pads. Usually at the front of the car.

In a perfect World the pads would have been spotted as being on the low side and changed on a service, without causing any further damage to the other brake parts, but after the metal on metal it is usually the discs and pads that are damaged and need changing, perhaps trebling  the cost of repairs.

 Brake warning lights now help us more

Some areas of the country can see much more in the way of brake repair work than others. The main reason for this is the terrain. Here in Halifax we are surrounded by the Pennine hills, a small mountain range called “the backbone of England”. Because of this we all use our brakes more often. Therefore the brakes will wear out quicker. We can get more of our fair share of drivers with Car brake Noises. People who live in say Lincolnshire will use their brakes less. Because the terrain is very flat and the brakes are not needed as much.

One of the good things about modern cars. Of course, is the use of computers and warning lights to pre-warn us of any pending problem. The Car Brakes warning light is one of them. Car brake pads are fitted with a sensor wire. Alerting a solenoid when the brake pads reach a certain thickness. So a warning light will come on in your cab when the pads are getting low. A great idea that I think has possibly saved lives.

This also gives the car owner plenty of time to book their car in to the local garage. Subsequently, to have the brakes fixed before they start to make the dreaded grinding noises.

Car brake Noises to finalise

To finalise it is always a good policy to give your car a regular service. According to the owner’s manual. If you cannot do this for some reason or another. Then have your brakes checked. Of course, before you embark on that important journey.  Or before you hear that dreaded Car brake Noise. Perhaps your holidays so that you know that your brakes are in good condition for your own and other driver’s safety sake.

Car brake Noises

Checking out the front brakes after the customer had heard Car brake Noises

Eric Roberts

Local garages -You CAN trust them for your Car Servicing and Repairs?

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Local garages

Local garages make a huge effort to make sure that your servicing is carried out in the correct manner.

local garages,servicing

We carry out car servicing and MOT Testing

Most independent local garages service a mix of car makes. Includes my own garage here in Halifax West Yorkshire in the UK. I must admit that we do not service too many Rolls-Royce’s or Ferrari’s. But we do get one or two from local businesses that are not tied up with servicing contracts.

As the owner of one of Halifax’s local garages. So,  we have always tried to keep our car servicing prices at a reasonable prices Hence, to our local customers. Of course, this has helped us to keep a regular and steady clientele. Naturally, that uses us to have their cars repaired and Serviced. Including  Vauxhall Servicing, Hyundai Servicing, and Smart Car Servicing.

We are also an MOT testing centre and are in the green lane in the VOSA testing station recommendations. This is a risk assessment from VOSA called the Operator Compliance Risk Score (OCRS). Meaning that we run our test centre “squeaky clean” and honest. Thus, the way that local garages should and in most cases do?

Local garages

local garages

car in for servicing keeps

This is how I run all my businesses. So that I can promise all my customers that all the work that we carry out will be carried out.Consequently, in an honest way and will also be priced up in an honest way. We are not infallible and if a dispute arises we can go into arbitration through an organisation called Motorcodes.

Motorcodes is a government backed organisation to insure that participating local garages serve their customers in a fair and honest manner. Motorcodes are also now connected to the office of fair trading and we are proud to be members. We are also vetted each year by the AA to examine the state of our garage and reception area.

We also became members of Unipart car Care Centres to help cement our relationship with our garage customers by making sure that the parts that we fit are of the best quality and of the same standard as the original equipment parts would have been fitted at a franchised garage. I find that this is one of the things that to a potential new customer may be worried about.

Local garages Servicing-“add-ons” do you really need them

Add-ons are something that I never used to consider when a customer asks for the price of a service. However I have started to think on different lines due to the ever increasing pressure to make our cars comply with emission controls and a greener environment.

When a car is new there is no contamination in the engine, but as the car increases its mileage, then contamination deposits begin to build up inside the engine and a gradual drop off occurs in the cars fuel consumption. In my opinion just an oil change will not be enough and so we have decided to offer our customers the choice of using an engine treatment from a company called Tec-4. This is what the company have to say, an extract from their website…www.tec-4.co.uk

“Petrol is an organic matter. When it is burnt or left to naturally degrade contamination is created. This contamination builds up on key components within the engine, most notably fuel injectors, inlet and exhaust valves and EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) valves. This contamination has a detrimental effect on the efficiency of the engine resulting in lost performance and increased fuel consumption”

After treatment the harmful contamination is removed, giving the car an improvement of between 10% and 15% in fuel efficiency, and with the price of petrol heading for £7 per gallon, it could mean a saving of between £200 and £300 in a year.(Fuel is now significantly lower since this article was published)

There are also treatment for diesel cars and also treatments for car cooling systems. It is a decision that I have already made and we are going to offer our service customers the choice to have the treatment on their cars or not and see what happens.

Eric Roberts